On July 7, 2021, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated and his wife, Martine Moïse, was also shot. The First Lady has now made her first statement since her husband was killed.

While recovering at Jackson Memorial hospital in Miami, Florida, Martine Moïset tweeted, “Thank you for the team of guardian angels who helped me through this terrible time. With your gentle touch, kindness and care, I was able to hold on. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

She also included a photo of her in a hospital bed. See below:

RECENT: Haiti Continues Spiral Into Turmoil Over President’s Legitimacy
Haiti, is known historically for successfully rebelling and ousting the slaveholding French by 1804, to begin as a new republic. But afterward it was economically choked by European and American powers consistently stifling its growth. The assassination of Moïse is the latest of decades, and perhaps generations of instability in Haiti including the days of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, and his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.

Moïse, 53, had been accused of autocracy and corruption by his critics, spurring massive demonstrations. He had been in power since February of 2017, but his opposition said that his five-year term began in 2016 and was set to end in February of 2021. However, those results were negated by Haiti’s electoral council. Moïse has said because of that, he ran and won again and took office in 2017, which would make him set to step down next year.

Elections were set to take place in September, but it is now unclear what will happen.

Currently, Haiti officials arrested 17 of the 28 suspects accused of being involved in the assassination, including at least three who were murdered by police, according to a report.

President Moïse was assassinated on the morning of July 7 when an armed collective approached his estate and opened fire on the couple. A motive has not yet been revealed.